Theresa Jacobs

Even though I am the only Swiss German at school, I never feel lonely. People have taken care of me so well. There are huge cultural differences—after all, Switzerland is roughly the same size as Vermont—but I rarely compare because being here is a chance to experience a different culture, not match it against the one I grew up in. One big thing is different: I really miss Swiss chocolate. America still needs to learn how to produce good chocolate. I always keep a Swiss chocolate bar in my desk so I can eat it in an absolute emergency.

In Switzerland, most of the teachers are your teachers for the 40 minutes you have class with them. Afterward they don’t want to know about your problems anymore. From the second I entered an NMH classroom, I knew the teachers cared about me. They believe in me and motivate me to work harder and better. I can talk with them about anything. Teachers here want to lead you in the right direction and help you wherever they can. It’s a unique relationship that I’ll miss a lot when I graduate.

Writing in English has always been something I had trouble with. When I took an English writing class, Creative Nonfiction, I felt insecure at first. I was frightened that I’d jumped from ESP (English for Specific Purposes) to senior English. But my teacher, Hugh Silbaugh, challenged me in the most positive way ever. We had to write one essay per night; I ran out of topics to talk about after half the term. But with his belief in me, I motivated myself to see the challenge as more of a game—a game of knowledge. In my final project I got an A-. Even though I’d had some A’s in other classes, this one felt special because I’d succeeded in a foreign language taught on a very difficult level.

I’ve become someone who studies and does homework not out of force but to find new interests and to do the best I can. I love the fact that people here somehow motivated me to do this work. NMH has made a real student out of me.

Theresa is attending Northeastern University after taking a semester off to travel down the Mekong River.